The Dutch court says it was linked to journalists’ screws

The Hague District Court was pronounced on Wednesday That, while the public prosecution service violated the right to protect the source when he listened to the appeals with the journalists, the supervision was justified as part of the criminal investigation.

In March 2022, Rosan Smits investigative journalist and now chief editor Rob Wijnberg from the correspondent interviewed Sywert Van Lienden, Bernd Damme and Camille Van Gestel on the sale of present masks during the Coronavirus Pandema.

The national prosecutors had permission to listen to the conversations with the three men and installed registration devices at the AA Castle in Vorden, where they will meet.

The trio made 28 million euros in the transaction. Earlier this month a court ordered men to pay at least 20 million euros At a foundation that they set up, but they bypassed, on the other hand, they send the money to a private company they owned.

The records were sent to the lawyers of the suspects in October 2023, who announced that the conversation was listened to by the criminal prosecution service.

The correspondent sued, arguing this protection of the violated source and wanted the destroyed records.

While the judges blamed the prosecutors because they did not inform the journalists in a timely manner that they were registered, they also found that the investigation was not targeted in journalists and was a value part of the criminal investigation.

Wijnberg expressed mixed feelings about the decision, saying that reporters are good that the judges acknowledged that the web site should have been informed earlier, but it was disappointed that listening was justified.

The Dutch journalist union was disappointed with the results. “The Court approves the public pursuit service using journalists to gather information from the suspects. It is reprobate and harms the credibility of journalists in relation to sources, ”said NVJ.